Retiring a UN building not so fit for world stage

United Nations

IN New York, "temporary" train stations, "temporary" art installations and "temporary" sidewalk sheds can endure for a decade or more. So it is a marvel to report that an interim building will turn out to be just that.

Perhaps because it is technically not in New York.

The six-year-old, US$140 million North Lawn Building - an almost windowless mass of concrete and white corrugated steel that stretches from 46th Street to 47th Street along the East River - was designed to house the critical operations of the United Nations while the headquarters complex was being renovated.

Now that the US$2.15 billion renovation is finished, the North Lawn Building is, too.

It is to be demolished over the next five months, though "dismantled" might be a better word, since the contractor has …